March 3, 2013: Luke 15:11-32, Told for Younger Students

One time, our Lord Jesus Christ told a story to teach a lesson.
He told about a man with two sons. One day, the younger son asked his father for a lot of money. He took the money and left his home. He traveled far away and wasted all the money his father gave him.
Soon after that, there was not enough food in the land. So, the younger son got a job feeding pigs. He was so hungry that he wanted to eat the pigs’ food. He worked hard, but was still hungry.
As he worked, he remembered that the servants at his father’s house worked hard but had plenty of food. He thought to himself, “I will go and say I am sorry to my father for sinning and wasting his money. Then I will ask him to hire me as one of his servants.” Right away, he started towards his home.
While he was still far away, his father saw him. He was so glad to see his son that he ran to him and hugged him and kissed him. The son told his father he was sorry for what he had done, and that he did not deserve to be called his father’s son anymore.
But the father was so happy to see his son! He asked the servants to dress the young man in the best clothes. He told them to prepare a feast to celebrate the son’s return. It was a very happy time in that house!
When the older son came in from the field and found out what was happening, he got angry. His father came out to talk with him, to ask him to join the party. But the older son said, “I have worked hard for you all these years and you didn’t give me a party. It’s not fair that my brother, who ran off and wasted your money gets a party, now, just for coming back!”
But the father said, “Son, you are always with me and everything that is mine is yours, too. It is right for us to celebrate now, though, because your lost brother has found his way back home, where he belongs!”

1. At the beginning of the story, what did the younger son ask his father for?
2. What did he do with all the money?
3. Why did he come back to the father? What did the father do?
4. How do you know when you’ve done something wrong?
5. Remember, when we do something wrong, God wants us to be sorry. To show we are sorry, we do two things. First we go to the person we have hurt and say, “Please forgive me.” The person we have hurt says, “I forgive you.” Second we ask forgiveness of God in the Mystery of Confession.